RIP: Apple Expo Paris shutting down

Adieu, Apple Expo in Paris. The conference organizers confirmed today that it …

Following yesterday's surprising news that Apple will no longer be appearing at the annual Macworld Conference & Expo in January after 2009, another Apple-related conference is now ringing the death knell. Farewell, Apple Expo Paris.

Reed Exhibitions has confirmed to Macworld (the web site/magazine, not the Expo) that it will not be holding its annual Apple Expo in Paris in 2009, indicating that this year's was most likely the last. The 2008 Apple Expo marked the conference's 25th year in existence—not unlike the Macworld Conference & Expo—and was allegedly quite decent this year despite the lack of Apple. Apparently not decent enough, though.

Apple had, of course, canceled Steve Jobs' keynote in Paris back in 2005, and announced this summer that it would be bowing out of the Paris show altogether. At the time, the company said that it was reducing its focus on trade shows, similar to the reason Apple gave yesterday when it announced it would no longer be part of the Macworld Expo after 2009.

The similarities here are not lost on us. The Apple Expo in Paris was able to continue for a little bit after Apple pulled out, but ultimately, it had to be put down. The same thing essentially happened to the now-defunct Macworld New York (previously Macworld Boston) conference that used to happen every summer before it got reduced to a single yearly gathering in San Francisco. While IDG claims that it plans to keep the Macworld Expo going at least through 2010 (and hopefully longer), the 800-pound gorilla in the room is the sad realization that such a thing may not happen for long.